The True Story of a Welsh Godfather
Episode 6 of 11 episodes.
Most readers like to read short pieces with some photos. So, this article on a Welsh mafia godfather is published on Medium dot com/@davidjames-55685
As well as on my website, www dot MattOwensRees dot com
For professional photos on Thai traditions and people culture, I strongly recommend looking at www dot LodeEngelen dot be
the images often support the articles on my own website.
The U.S.
In 2011, a raid dubbed the “largest Mob round-up in FBI history” brought in 127 suspected Mafiosi, members of the mafia, on charges of corruption, racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking and murder. Despite this, the head of New York’s FBI office acknowledged that the best efforts of the justice system had not “eradicated the problem”, telling The New York Times that the idea of the mafia mob as a thing of the past was “a myth”.
Later, in 2016, Selwyn Raab, an authority on the US Mafia, wrote that the 9/11 attacks had proved an unexpected gift to the syndicate, as the majority of the FBI’s organised crime agents were reassigned to the war on terror.
This reduced scrutiny has allowed US crime families to regroup and revive in recent years. “They are shipping more blood over from Sicily and Southern Italy,” Raab told Rolling Stone magazine.
Obviously, the Mafia does not advertise their new recruits arriving from Sicily. And I’m not suggesting the Sicilian arrivals in the photo above are all fresh recruits.
However, one sign that the Mafia remains far from regaining its heyday is the group’s current lack of political clout, says Raab. Until well into the 20th century, “they were so influential in politics and the court system, and with that influence they could fix elections”, he says. “That was the scariest aspect.”
The true story of the J.O.Williams family can now be seen in perspective.
Mafias are all around us.
As we saw in the way J.O. treated his workers in those early days in Port Hope Simpson in Newfoundland, mafias have harmful effects on societies. We also saw that it was not only the greed of entrepreneurs which caused the emergence of mafias, but also the political maneuverings of foreign governments.
The essential feature of a mafia is its firm belief that it can do good for those who respect the mafia family and become a part of its extended family. More than for those in society who kowtow to people in a corrupt and greedy real world that has no respect for them as individuals.
Here are five definitions of Mafias.
• An organised international body of criminals, operating originally in Sicily and now especially in Italy and the US, and having a complex and ruthless behavioural code.
• Any organised group of criminals resembling the Mafia in its way of operating.
• A group regarded as exerting a hidden sinister influence.
• A hierarchical structure, a secretive organisation often involved in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in drugs and people, protection, prostitution, and other illegal activities.
• Businessmen and politicians operating outside the law.
Members of a Mafia run their businesses in the same way as big international companies — decisions are made in regular board meetings.
The following quotes give a better understanding of what a mafia is. The first is written by a Sicilian.
“It seems everybody has their personal view of what mafias are and how they developed. I am Sicilian and the study of the Mafias (we prefer plural vs one single mafia) is one of my interests as a Sicilian and as a student. Also… I’m no member of any “family” you may think of.
“The word itself has rather obscure origins, and its history and meaning are totally unrelated to the modern concept of the mafia. Modern Mafias have so many different aspects I couldn’t say if one is less accurate than others.
“Nowadays, the term “mafia” can, sadly, relate to almost every socio-political aspect of our lives. We could say the word itself has gained a more general and complex meaning since its migration from Sicily to other countries.
“As regards the word itself, its origin can be traced back for centuries. Sure, it had something to do with the many invasions Sicily was exposed to. Sicily had been invaded by pretty much all of the peoples in the Mediterranean Area: Greeks, Romans, Normands (French), Arabs, Spanish, and Italians.
“This gave the island’s culture an immense richness but, as a side effect, created among Sicilians a silent “brotherhood” against anyone coming from the outside world.
“This later degenerated into the oppression and control of those not part of the mafia family. The word Mafia had become a synonym for organised crime.
Mafia godfathers believe that their regimes can run a fairer society for people than current “democratically elected” governments and élites. The godfathers argue that those in power put their own greed and corruption above the wishes of the people who elected them.
Mafias do not kowtow to those who are corrupt and greedy. They believe that their methods result in a fairer society based on respect.
Background to J.O.’s rise to power and influence. 1900–2003
We describe below the complex history of J.O.’s career from junior clerk to mafia boss. Most of this is gleaned from the writings of Llewelyn Prichard, a travel writer who sold tours to tourists and who has written books on Pope Paul II and on the town of Gloucester in England. I have edited the script only to correct ambiguities and to improve readability.
Pritchard’s writing has been fact-checked as much as possible. I have changed only obvious errors based on my own personal knowledge of the family between 1954 and 1970 and have verified some facts with members of the local community who knew the family more closely than he clearly did.
John Osborn Williams (28 March 1886–6 July 1963) was the owner of the logging and pit-prop exporting business known as The Labrador Development Company Ltd based in Port Hope Simpson, Newfoundland and Labrador from 1934–1948.
